Competition, Imperfect Competition, and Dynamic Market Processes

Abstract . Contrary to the conventional hypothesis, the structural elements on the supply side of free product markets are not stable. The variability in the structures of free markets is readily apparent in an appropriate analysis of the emergence, growth, and maturity of free product markets. In this analysis, supply-side entrepreneurship plays a prominent role—one which is only imputed to entrepreneurship in the conventional specification of market conditions. In order to correct this deficiency in the conventional specification, an alternative specification is summarized in which are treated explicitly the effects of entrepreneurial activity with respect to the discovery and development of economically feasible new products and processes and the choice of and variations in the quality characteristics of the products of individual firms. This indicates that firms can and do influence the stage of development—and hence the related size—of a market and their relative shares of it by new product and process development and the quality of their output. In this way entrepreneurial activity affects particular product market structures.     

Effective teamwork at the top: the evidence from China

Effective teamwork is an important topic of human resource management, and how top-level managers work effectively as a team is critical to business success. Prior research indicates that the diverse background of top managers influences the effectiveness of their teamwork, and the effects of top management team (TMT) diversity on organizational innovation varies. In this study, we propose that functional team dynamics plays a crucial role in facilitating TMT effectiveness. On the basis of a sample of Chinese firms, our findings support the distinction between demographic and network diversities and the moderating effect of functional team dynamics on TMT diversity–firm innovation relationships.     

The impact of organizational climate and strategic fit on firm performance

A firm's organizational climate—its degree of trust, morale, conflict, rewards equity, leader credibility, resistance to change, and scapegoating—helps determine its success. Likewise, organizational strategy—the firm's commitment to capital investment, innovation, quality, and the like—has also been found to be an important determinant of firm performance. However, prior work has most often explored the impact of climate and strategy separately, and not in tandem. In our study, we develop a measure of organizational climate comprised of tension, resistance to change, and conflict, and go on to show that at least for some pairings of a firm's climate and its strategy, there is a negative effect on return on assets (ROA). © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Sunken Cities: Climate Change,Urban Futures and the Imagination of Submergence

Climate change presents multiple challenges to cities—not only in terms of the resilience and sustainability of the urban fabric, but also in relation to how urban inhabitants imagine they might adapt to a future transformed environment. This article explores imaginative modes of thinking in relation to future cities and climate change, focusing on representations of urban drowning or submergence. It considers, in turn, climate‐change fictions—from J.G. Ballard's 1962 novel The Drowned World to Paulo Bacigalupi's The Drowned Cities, published in 2012; visual representations from Gustave Doré's The New Zealander in 1872 to Alexis Rockman's 2004 Manifest Destiny; and architectural conjecture, from Wolf Hilbertz's Autopia Ampere project from 1970 onwards to CRAB Studio's Soak City in 2009. The article draws out how these imaginaries intersect with theoretical understandings of science fiction and ecology, contending that an emphasis on multiple imaginaries of climate change is critical to expanding the narrow range of possibilities that currently characterize the literature on cities and climate change. Imaginative texts, images and designs mutually inform each other to encourage holistic ways of approaching how we think about the prospect of urban submergence and to incubate radical responses to it.     

Libertarianism and Private Property in Land

Abstract . The positions on private landownership of two libertarian scholars thought to have a wide following in that movement are examined The libertarians —Murray Rothbard and Robert Nozick—hold positions which are untenable. Rothbard's theory is almost indistinguishable from John Locke's and rests on the labor theory of ownership and the admixture theory of labor; standards which are too vague. Nozick believes that making something valuable gives a right of ownership, but again the standard is too ambiguous. And it is necessary to appropriate a thing before one can improve it. The value added theory permits a utilitarian justification of landownership involving the payment of compensation to non-owners.     

Book review essay

Book reviewed in this article: Capitalism and countryside: rural sociology as political economy: Newby, H. 1977: The deferential worker — a study of farm workers in East Anglia. Capitalism and countryside: rural sociology as political economy: Newby, H., Bell, C., Rose, D. and Saunders, P. 1978: Property, paternalism and power — class and control in rural England. Capitalism and countryside: rural sociology as political economy: Newby, H. 1980: Green and pleasant land? — social change in rural England.     

Utilizing cool posing narrative and technique as leadership strategies among underrepresented individuals

“Cool posing” narrative and technique—or story and style—has implications for changes in how schools and organizations think about leadership. Cool posing is showing restrained emotion to gain advantages through the use of counterpoint to puzzle and baffle rivals. The intention to be paradoxical and confusing aids the narration of appropriate techniques that offset unfavorable situations and images. Cool posing is as much a part of some underrepresented groups' performance as their sense of self, and as valuable. This strategy is frequently exhibited orally through metaphor, which transforms facts into novel accounts of reality. It is as though the ability to comprehend their experience through cool posing provides many with “the only ways to perceive and experience much of the world” (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p. 239). Leaders in schools and organizations could benefit by implementing the strategies suggested here that seek stability and flexibility for those underrepresented individuals traditionally studying, working, and living in less than adequate conditions. Findings suggest the consideration of additional intellectual dimensions aside from the traditional logical and mathematical ones as indicators of valid and reliable aptitude. These further dimensions include the interrelated elements of cool posing, which are spirituality (a vitalistic approach to life), verve (high levels of stimulation), movement (the interweaving of rhythm and dance), harmony (one's fate interrelates with others'), emotion (an emphasis on feelings), orality (a preference for both speaking and listening performances), expressive individualism (the cultivation of spontaneous expression), personal time (the belief that time is passing through a social space), and communalism (a commitment to social connectedness) (Boykins, as cited in Majors, 1987/2003a). Leaders need to broaden their ideas of standard leadership and become transformational and transformed to respond to less heard voices that scream as loudly as those that benefit through full representation. Innovative leaders can emerge from underrepresented groups and thrive in industries that become skilled at converting deficit orientations to resource orientations through “patience, a certain flexibility in world view, and a generous tolerance” (Lakoff & Johnson, p. 231). Knowledge from this study may equip teachers and leaders in multiethnic schools and organizations to respond empathetically across racial and ethnic boundaries of difference.     

供应链向SDN演进的系统边界研究

在市场巨变和竞争激烈的环境下,供应链由于其局域合作性质导致其对市场的响应较迟缓和被动,为此,一种较合适全球竞争的企业管理模式——多功能开放型企业供需网(简称供需网或SDN)被提出并逐渐成为企业参与全球竞争的有效途径之一。根据复杂系统观点,这种转化实际是企业系统的演化行为,而演化又是系统边界面上的行为。为帮助企业正确决策SDN的实践操作,实施合理的目标行为,文章在提出SDN是供应链的有效演进方向背景下,在阐述系统边界及边界对系统演化影响的基础上,对转变系统的企业边界性质进行了分析,从任务目标、功能、结构及时间四维角度,根据SDN的特性所决定的供应链的演进目标层面对系统边界进行了分类,认为应转变系统的根本边界、演进过程中的系统边界及转变程度边界,以期对企业的供需网实践提供行为决策参考。     

Quality of Life, Quality of the Individual, Technology and Economic Development

Abstract . Technological advance, quality of life and quality of the person as well as the interaction among them are at the heart of a meaningful theory of socioeconomic development. The complexity and hierarchical structure of the quality of life concept can be related to Maslow's study of human needs and economists’theory of human wants. The implicit assumption of the direct positive relationship between quality of life and quality of the person is challenged. The possibility of an inverse relationship between them is stated and illustrated. If the ultimate purpose of improving quality of life is moral perfection (homo humanis), then optimal quality of life is one which leads to attainment of this goal. Freedom, seen by Maslow as a necessary precondition for satisfaction of all other needs, is defined as voluntary subjection to the highest value. The search for truth—the only way to set a person free—takes the form of Hegelian dialectics. Theoretically, the high quality of people can be attained either by “Hegelian path” via coercion, or “Hegelian path” via freedom. Historically, the former utterly failed, while the latter, though highly desirable, is neither impossible nor assured.     

Problem shifts and market research: The role of networks in business relationships

This article discusses changes in approach to the study of business relationships, and sees the paradigm concept as constituting an inadequate basis for describing gradually evolving changes in the perception of business. The frequent references to paradigms appear to focus more on state aspects than on change aspects of theory building. The article attempts to trace some of the changes in the perception of markets preceding the emergence of network theories, and relates the presence of an interactional approach to business studies to the concept of problem shifts (Lakatos). The development of interactional approaches in marketing is seen as representing a shift away from theory building commonly found in economics and organizational theory. Changes in the approach to the study of business relationships are interpreted as theoretical or empirical problem shifts, and are thus related to the a priori and a posteriori relevance of the continual evolution of alternative business theories. The article explores some of the epistemological relevance of the network theories to the study of market relationships, and the potential impact on continual changes in approach to the study of markets.     

The Negative Effects of Inappropriate Price Stimulation; The Case of Senegal: Rice Price Increases to Encourage Production May Harm Families of Non-responsive Subsistence Farmers

Abstract . Some governments of developing economieshzve been encouraged to use pricing policy to stimulate increases in food production. It is not known whether all subsistence farmers in those countries operate in an economic, financial and technological environment in which they can respond positively to price increases. In this paper models were used to demonstrate two situations: one in which farmers responded to price stimulation and another where price increases were ineffective, costly and produced results inconsistent with national goals. Data from the Basse Casamance Region in Senegal were used to show that farmers were not responsive to price changes and were net purchasers of grains. The study concludes that unless farmers' supply curves were shifted to the right—that is, that they meet more of their own subsistence needs—recent Senegalese government rice price increases could be harmful to the farm family.     

A Test of U. S. National Economic Policy in the Post-World War II Period

Abstract . This inquiry is an effort to evaluate the macroeconomic performance of the United States economy in the period after the close of World War II in terms of the macroeconomic goals to which national economic policy supposedly had been directed. That is, whether policy achieved full employment, price stability or an adequate rate of growth. Insofar as key indicators can be used as a basis for judgment—and there is, as yet, no scientific basis for measuring how far that reliance can be chanced—it would appear that policy was least successful in attaining full employment with price stability, or full employment, or price stability. In certain infrequent periods, growth seems to have occurred. But was its rate “adequate?” And did it result from policy? Analysis by key indicators may not tell us much, if anything; but it helps to delineate an approach toward policy-monitoring researchers need to cultivate.     

Transition towards and of sustainability—Understanding sustainability as performative

Our purpose is to explore the concept of “sustainability” when understood from a performative perspective, i.e. as a concept that is filled with meaning across time. Drawing on a 10 year-long study of the digital footprint of Stockholm Royal Seaport, claimed to be northern Europe's largest sustainable urban development district, we show that “sustainability” emerged as the project became associated with particular places, projects, histories, and technologies. This means that “sustainability” was local in that it was situated in the particular spatial context of the project; temporal in that it was situated in a particular time; and political in that it expressed particular values and perspectives. The study contributes to explaining why “sustainability” remains—and always will remain—a contested concept, which is why sustainability transitions are complex. Consequently, we suggest that the transition towards sustainability always involves the transition of sustainability, something that needs to be acknowledged in order for a transition to actually become sustainable.     

The Role of Roles in Risk Management Change: The Case of an Italian Bank

This paper explores the role of roles (i.e. groups of actors characterised by the same functional tasks within an organisation), and of their interactions, within processes of change in risk management (RM). By combining insights from the literature on RM and from institutional studies, this paper suggests that change in RM can be interpreted as a process that involves both enabling and precipitating dynamics [Greenwood, R., & Hinings, C. R. (1996). Understanding radical organizational change: Bringing together the old and the new institutionalism. The Academy of Management Review, 21, 1022–1054. doi:10.5465/AMR.1996.9704071862] between different roles. Aiming to address these dynamics empirically, we rely on a longitudinal case study of an Italian bank. The study shows that the interactions between roles were dependent on their respective specific interests, the different institutional templates they supported, and the shifts in power for control over relevant information. These dynamics both affected and were affected by the change in the template-in-use within the bank and allowed a sort of RM ideal (i.e. the search for more RM) to persist over evolving templates.     

Explaining the American Dream: Telling Chinese Academics What'Liberty and Justice For All'Means Taxes Even an Eager Audience

Abstract . For more than a generation, contemporary mainland Chinese have lived under first a military dictatorship and now a political party dictatorship. How to explain to an eager Chinese academic audience what the American dream of ‘liberty and justice for all’—realized only in part in some areas but approached progressively nearer in others—really means? The U.S. has predominantly a capitalist system but its people are committed to equality of opportunity. It tempers ‘rugged individualism’ by concern for the poor, the handicapped and the unfortunate. It has many serious economic, social and cultural problems but its citizens, drawn from most of the peoples of the world—not the special interest groups trying to benefit at the expense of others—are determined to solve them equitably and rationally. The trade and budget deficits are related to government instrumentalities.     

Mis-measurement of inequality: a critical reflection and new insights

This article documents that the Gini index is an insufficient measure of inequality and, according to the traditional logic of interpretation, that it may lead to incorrect deductions. Since, apart from concentration, it cannot grasp other relevant features of inequality like heterogeneity and asymmetry—which, beyond its intensity, allow for considering the direction of inequality too—we suggest using the less known Zanardi index of asymmetry of the Lorenz curve as an appropriate measure of inequality. Our findings are supported with estimates from the Luxembourg Income Study Database.

     

Nature in Economic Theories: Hans Immler Traces Recognition of the Environment—and Its Neglect—in Various Classics

Abstract . Labor and capital are usually considered as the primary factors of production, the costs of which are of utmost importance. In contrast, nature (including all natural resources), as the essential third factor, is disregarded. She is generally assumed to be always available, self-regenerating, and to be exploited without long-term costs. In other words, she is more or less viewed as a constant. Hans Immler's new treatise represents an important contribution in that he emphasizes the role and function of the natural environment, and its neglect, in the formulation of theories of value and their long-term consequences on contemporary economic theories and on the person and society. This essay traces Immler's evaluation with extensive quotations—especially with regard to Physiocracy and the classical economists— of nature's role and function, or their neglect, in the formulation of theories of value through the writings of Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas, William Petty, John Locke, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, and others—all dealt with in Part 1 of his book—and Francois Quesnay and the Physiocrats—the topic of Part 2.     

Henry George: The Economist as Moralist*

Abstract . Henry George derived his economic theory from his personal experience. He had the good fortune to be living in California during his formative years; there the economic events which transpired during the settlement of the North American continent—the passing of the frontier and its consequences—occurred within a time span of a few years and the telescoping of history gave him the framework for an original economic system, as well as a utopian vision of a free society. Much attention has properly been paid to George's economic ideas but he was also a moralist, one accepted by some philosophers as among the greatest. This aspect of his work, and particularly his value theory, have been neglected.     

Frank Knight on Preachers and Economic Policy: A 19th Century Liberal Anti Religionist, He Thought Religion Should Support the Status Quo

Abstract . A central feature of the work of American economist and social philosopher Frank H. Knight was his antagonism toward organized religion, particularly Christianity and especially Catholicism. Knight's antagonism towards the Church may be traced to his historical views on the Liberal Revolution and the opposition of the Church to critical inquiry and open discussion, and its support for despotic social institutions. Additionally, Knight's antagonism stemmed from his skepticism about the possibilities of effective social reforms based upon Christian moral principles. Knight found little in Christian teaching that would offer appropriate solutions—certainly not the “Gospel of Love” which he took as the core of Christian social teachings. Furthermore he was critical of the reform efforts of preachers because of their ignorance of the function of the free market and their propensity towards radical solutions. On the centennial of his birth, he is remembered as an ardent social critic and a liberal supporter of the status quo.

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Identifying business opportunities for sustainable development: Longitudinal and experimental evidence contributing to the field of sustainable entrepreneurship

Which factors facilitate the identification of business opportunities for sustainable development? To answer this question, we develop a process model of sustainable opportunity identification. We argue that sustainable opportunity identification is a process with transitions from problem to solution identification and from solution to sustainable opportunity identification. Moreover, the transitions are facilitated by two factors—awareness of adverse consequences and entrepreneurial attitude—providing motivation and direction in the process. We tested our model in a field study (N = 107) and two experiments (N = 53 and N = 69). Our findings show that awareness of adverse consequences and entrepreneurial attitude influence the process of sustainable opportunity identification, explaining under which conditions people are more likely to identify business opportunities for sustainable development. Our study thus contributes to the field of sustainable entrepreneurship.